


How Seto Kaiba Learned to be a Semi-Decent Human Being

by LizzieHopscotch



Series: How Seto Kaiba Learned the Joys of Friendship [2]
Category: Yu-Gi-Oh!
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, And yet, Angst, Battle City Arc, Canon Compliant, Friendship, Gen, Hurt!Tea, Ice Cream, Male-Female Friendship, Slow Burn, azureshipping, hey look i did another one of these, is that what its called?, write the fic you want
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-04
Updated: 2017-07-04
Packaged: 2018-11-23 10:07:13
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,359
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11400375
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LizzieHopscotch/pseuds/LizzieHopscotch
Summary: Duellist Kingdom is over, will Kaiba and Téa's friendship survive?





	How Seto Kaiba Learned to be a Semi-Decent Human Being

**Author's Note:**

> Hahahahahahahahaha dissertation, what dissertation?
> 
> Quick note - when Téa is taken by the Rare Hunters there is violence, and she does get hurt.

His head hadn’t stopped aching since they left the island. Whatever hypnotising trick Pegasus had pulled was taking a time to wear off. He marched through the halls of KC, Mokuba faithfully by his side, thinking back to the helicopter journey back from the island. He hadn’t dared to look behind him once, afraid of what he’d see when Téa looked at him.

It didn’t matter. He didn’t need her or anyone else. The only person in his life who mattered was Mokuba. What does he have at the end of the day? He has a brother, a purpose, never ending success. He doesn’t _need_ anything else. It was all superfluous to him. Anything he didn’t need, he threw away.

A heart couldn’t help him be strong.

Hand holding was for children.

Victory was the only thing that mattered.

Speaking of, it was time to deal with the losers of that entire debacle. Once he was through with those useless corporate windbags he could get on with raising KC to greater glory, and Duellist Kingdom would be nothing more than a meaningless blip on the radar.

~*~

They won! Everything was fine! The shop was warm, her friends were safe and nothing bad was happening.

The only thing that stopped her from enjoying their little party was the knot of anxiety and guilt gnawing away at her insides. She hated how she’d left things with Kaiba, sitting in the helicopter she’d dreaded feeling the weight of his blue eyes on her.

It never came.

She felt even worse.

It was so messed up, if only she could talk to him but _how._ What happened couldn’t even be classed as a proper argument but a monumental disaster, but if she could talk to him maybe they could work this out. She missed her friend.

If only they could talk.

Mokuba was in the doorway.

If only, right.

He led them to Kaiba’s private laboratory, telling them about the Big Five and their continuing nefarious plans.

Maybe she should have tried to enjoy that party more.

Wait.

There are only three pods.

“Alright! Let’s go! Tristan, guard my perfect body while I’m in there, will ya,” Joey said behind her.

“No, wait Joey. You should stay out here,”

Hold on. Wait what.

“What? Why Téa?”

Yeah, Téa, _why?_

“Because…Kaiba hates you. He sees you, and chances of getting him to work with us to shut it down plummet from small to none. Plus, if those suits send anyone over to stop us, you and Tristan have a better chance at holding them off,”

“But Téa, it’s a Duel Monsters game. Do you even have a deck with you?”

“Yugi. I’m friends with Joey, Kaiba and _you_. Even Tristan has a deck, and he can barely tell the difference between attack and defence points,”

“Hey that’s rude! I mean, true, but _rude_ ,” Tristan protested.

“Sorry Tristan, but you know I’m right,”

“She is, man, I’d stand a better chance out here with you,”

“Alright, alright! Aw, it sounded so good too! Okay fine, here Yugi, take my Time Wizard. Even if I’m not in there, if you’ve got my card it’s like I’m still looking out for you,”

“Thanks Joey,”

“Aw, don’t mention it,”

“Are you sure about this?” Yugi asked her quietly, as Joey and Tristan began to squabble about how to seal the room, and Mokuba started to flip switches.

“Mostly sure,” Téa said. “As long as we all work together, it’ll be fine, I know it,”

“I’m sure you’re right Téa!”

“Of course, I am!”

_She was not right, oh my god that is a lot of Duel Monsters why are there so many Kaiba why do you do these things_.

 She could see the monsters start to converge of Mokuba.

It was like Duellist Kingdom all over again, he was going to be taken.

_No._

She quickly summoned Beautiful Headhuntress to cut the ropes surrounding him, and suddenly the monsters looked at her. Traditional armour be damned, she never felt more unprotected. She called back her monster and ran for the boy. Yugi and Mai were too busy holding them off to notice until it was too late. Grabbing Mokuba suddenly became too much effort, the girl with no monster to protect her was a much easier target.

She could hear Mokuba calling her from the ground, his shrill cries finally alerting Yugi and Mai to the problem, but it was all too late. She was too high now even for Harpy Lady to reach her. She closed her eyes and waited for it to be over.

Please don’t drop her please don’t drop her please don’t drop her please please please.

The net around her went lax and a short scream escaped her as she tumbled out onto the cold floor.

Floor.

Oh, thank god.

“Téa? What the hell are you doing here?”

“Owwww, Mokuba came to the shop for help. Me, Yugi and him are all here to get you out,”

“He shouldn’t have done that. I don’t need any help, and especially not from the likes of you,”

“Yes, you absolutely have things under control,”

She summoned back her Headhuntress, who quickly cut him down.

“Why are you here? Shouldn’t you be off preaching somewhere?”

“I’m here, you ungrateful sod, because you’re my friend. And because for some bizarre reason I thought that you might be more open to working together to get out of here. Clearly, I was mistaken! Now will you please stop being such a, a, stubborn _arse_ , and get off your high horse long enough for us all to get out of here in one piece!”

Kaiba blinked.

“But _why_. You called me a heartless machine, remember?”

“And you told me you no longer needed me as a friend,” Téa looked up at him. “And yet, here we are. So, can we please leave?”

“Fine. Let’s go,” Kaiba pushed past her and onto the rocky bridge that led to their way out.

“Oh, I’m afraid neither of you are going _anywhere_ ,”

“Give it up, Phantom. The Mythic Dragon wasn’t summoned; therefore, this game is over. I win!”

“Oh Kaiba, I told you before, all your silly little rules no longer apply,”

“Okay, that’s enough. I don’t exactly recognise what monster you are, but it’s definitely time for you to go. Headhuntress!”

Witty Phantom screamed as he was cleaved in two, his digital self-scattering into hundreds of pieces.

“Time to go?” Téa asked, gesturing ahead.

“Lets.”

They ran through the castle, Téa quickly telling him about their plan to recreate the flying machine.

“Then they should be here soon,” Kaiba said. “Wait. What happened to my deck?”

“Mokuba has it,” Téa told him. “Don’t worry, Yugi’ll keep him safe,”

“Hmph,”

“Wait, do you hear that?”

“What?”

“ _That_.”

It was quiet but Téa could definitely hear people calling their names. It was slowly growing louder as they listened, Kaiba gasping in shock as he finally heard them.

“That’s Mokuba!”

Téa nodded

“He’s been really tough through all this, Kaiba. He didn’t stop trying to find you at all,”

“He’s a good kid,” he murmured quietly.

“Now we just need to work on you,” Téa responded at the same volume.

“What was that?”

“Nothing~”

“Whatever. Let’s go find them before they get themselves in trouble,”

“Right!”

Trouble as it turned out found them quicker than expected. The walls and floor of the castle melted away, to be replaced with what looked like a giant circuit board complete with electrical signals travelling through the conduits. The Big Five merged with the Mythic Dragon and began their offensive.

The seal meant that they could only summon Dragon Type Monsters, but even those appeared to be useless against them.

First Mai was lost, her Pet Dragon shattering.

And then.

The last thing she remembered was calling her Light and Darkness Dragon to defend Mokuba, then it was all a blank…nothingness. Not even a sense that time had passed before she was standing on a well-lit plinth, Yugi and Kaiba calling out all their names, eyes suspiciously red.

And then that was it.

Time to go home.

They emerged from the pods to find Joey and Tristan a bit bruised and battered, but grinning triumphantly.

~*~

She’d waited for long enough.

She thought that maybe if she gave him space, he would come to her. Hadn’t they made some progress in that virtual world in fixing the rift between them? Instead it had been nothing but radio silence.

Well.

It had been three weeks since the virtual world and three weeks and four days since Duellist Kingdom. Téa stared at her phone, willing a message to appear. There were plenty from the guys, even a few from Mokuba, all dutifully replied to but not one from Kaiba. She worried that maybe there was something wrong, maybe he’d been hurt, but Mokuba would have told her if that was true. Wouldn’t he?

She smothered her face with a pillow.

It had been so long since she’d had a fight with a friend. A true fight, with hurtful words and a long silence. She can’t remember why she and Yugi had had the massive blow up, and she can’t remember how they made up either except that it took…time. A lot of time and an unspoken agreement to not mention it again.

She wondered how long it was since Kaiba had had such an argument.

Oh no.

She sat bolt upright, hugging the pillow to her chest. That can’t be right…can it? Surely, he’d had fights with friends before. Not that she’d seen him with anyone other than Mokuba before. Even when he’d been at school he’d been isolated, the rich kid CEO with an attitude problem the size of a small nation. The only people who had really tried were the more sycophantic kids and even they grew tired of his behaviour.

So then, if Kaiba’s only real friend was Mokuba, who worshipped the ground he walked on, then did he even know _how_ to make up with a friend?

The answer was probably not.

Right, okay then.

In a parlance she was sure he would appreciate, it was her move.

This is how, one bright Saturday afternoon she decided to put her plan into action.

It was disgustingly simple really; get into KC, hope Kaiba isn’t in a meeting, be super stubborn and get him to talk. She just had to hope he didn’t have her thrown out before she reached steps three and four.

She stopped outside the building, took a breath, swallowed. Okay. Go.

Her hands shook as she gripped the straps of her bag tightly, staring straight ahead as she walked through the KC building’s lobby. No one looked twice as she made her way towards the elevators, they were used to her now after several ice cream deliveries and random drop ins. A few even smiled and waved in her direction. She kept the surprise from her face as the elevator doors slid shut.

She’d honestly expected to have trouble. She knew that Kaiba had left standing orders for her to be let through at any time but she thought he’d have rescinded that order. A quick text to Mokuba let her know that Kaiba was in his office, and another one meant that he waved as he passed her in the hall.

Square your shoulders, go in. Say what you have to.

He didn’t look up from his computer screen when she entered. Or when she stopped to the side of his desk. She knew he knew she was there though. It was in the line of his shoulders and the tightening of his eyes. He was expecting an argument and it just made her feel sad.

Now.

Who would break first?

“Why are you here?”

Hooray she won!

“I came to see my friend,”

“Mokuba stepped out,”

“Mokuba isn’t my only friend here,” she responded gently. “You never changed it,”

“Changed what?”

“Your order for me to be let through,”

“I forgot. I’ll fix it as soon as you leave,”

“Kaiba, please look at me,” she pleaded.

He didn’t.

She started to nudge his chair. Not enough to move him fully, just enough to be irritating. He still ignored her.

“Look at me.” She said again, firmer this time.

He finally met her eyes.

“Stand up. Come on, stand up,”

“If I do, will you leave?”

“Maybe.”

“I’ll take it,”

She moved back slightly so he could stand but as soon as he was upright she threw her arms around his waist and held on tight. The force of her hitting him made Kaiba take a step back, his arms frozen outstretched.

“I was so worried about you,” Téa breathed. “First Kemo tells us you’re dead, then Pegasus trapped you and then the Big Five! God, Kaiba, I thought I’d lost you so many times!”

He finally figured out what to do and placed his hands gently on her shoulders. He was still silent which infuriated her, but the weight of his hands on her and the warmth of his chest underneath her cheek was too pleasant for her to ruin.

She supposed it was because he was so much taller than her other friends, that’s what made it different.

She pulled back slightly, just to glance at his face, to find his staring down at her with confusion bright in his eyes.

“Let’s sit down, okay?”

“I have things to do,” he protested.

“It’s Saturday,” she said. “You’re allowed a break, and when we’re done you can go back to…whatever it is and I’ll fetch some ice cream,”

She tugged him over to the sofas and made him sit.

“I thought you only did that for friends.”

Téa gave a long sigh.

“Kaiba. Do you honestly think I would do half the things I have, if you weren’t my friend? I mean I know you think I’m some sort of goody two shoes but I’m really not that nice. I’m not going to abandon you over one argument,”

“You called me heartless,”

“You tried to kill yourself,”

“I thought I’d lost him.” Kaiba confessed quietly. “I thought, if Yugi beat me, then that was it. I’d have lost Mokuba forever and Mokuba…he’s everything to me, Téa. I don’t know how I would have made it without him by my side. I couldn’t…I couldn’t fail him not when he looked at me with such _trust_. Like the idea of me failing to save him never even crossed his mind,”

Téa grabbed his hand and held on.

“I shouldn’t have called you heartless, not when I know that it isn’t true,” Téa shifted and made sure he met her eyes again. “Please though Kaiba, even if you can’t trust the others completely, trust _me_. I’m your friend, and I don’t give friendship lightly you know that. So, next time, if Mokuba is in trouble or you’re in trouble, let me help you. Let all of us help you. Please,”

He sighed, hitting his head against the sofa once, twice, three times.

“I thought we agreed no friendship speeches,”

“I’d say this was more of a pep talk.”

~*~

~*~

Battle City was underway and there was still no sign of the second Egyptian God card. After destroying the idiot who dared to put down his brother, Kaiba began to walk around the city looking for people to challenge. He still had locator cards to obtain after all, it wouldn’t do for Téa to get mad at him for abusing his power again.

Honestly the things he did in the name of friendship for her, Wheeler did not deserve those three stars he gave him.

Weakling.

Not that it mattered, he’d fall soon and he wouldn’t have to put up with a third-rate duellist tainting his tournament.

Speaking of, either he’s begun to hallucinate Wheeler’s voice or he’s had the unfortunate luck of running into that loser.

Except where when of the nerd herd are, Téa is inevitably nearby.

“Well, well, are you dorks having fun?”

“Oh, hi Kaiba, Mokuba!” Téa replied.

“Hi Téa!” said Mokuba.

“What do you want rich boy?” demanded Joey. Right, he was here. No way to have a nice conversation with him barking at you.

“Nothing. Just came to see if you’d finally washed out,”

“Sorry to disappoint but I’m still in this,”

“Hmph. You should hurry up and quit, you wouldn’t want your poor sister to have to watch you lose,”

“Kaiba…” Téa warned lowly.

“Why you little! Is that a challenge asshole?”

“Well, if you want to lose so easily, who am I to deny you?” Kaiba smirked.

“Hey, guys? How about we try to get along for once?” Téa pleaded.

She must know there is no way for Joey to win.

“When hell freezes over, Téa.”

“Of course. What was I thinking,”

“I wouldn’t worry about it Téa, I’m not going to duel your little friend. It would be far too easy,”

He turned on his heel and walked away. He’d apologise to Téa later.

“Hey Kaiba! If you see Yugi send me a text okay!” She called after him.

“What am I, her personal servant? First entering Wheeler and now babysitting Yugi? I have better things to do with my time,” he muttered, Mokuba snickering beside him.

“Please!”

He waved an arm in acknowledgement.

Mokuba laughed harder.

After properly reminding Mokuba about the dangers of mocking is older and taller brother, Kaiba finally resumed his walk without interruption. Most duellists gave him a wide berth, his reputation as a fearsome duellist and a scathing conversationalist making him difficult to approach. Just the way liked it really.

Really.

God this was no challenge at all.

Why did he throw this tournament again?

Right, to get the three Egyptian God cards, regain his title as world number one and become absolutely unstoppable. He was a Kaiba, it was only what he was due.

His collar communicator started to beep urgently. The second god card had been played. Kaiba allowed himself a satisfied smile as he walked briskly to the duel’s location. He knew without being told he would find Yugi there against this mystery opponent. Who else, aside from him, warranted such a drastic strategy to defeat. It didn’t matter if Yugi won or lost, by the time the day was over that card would be his, and he would be one step closer to regaining his former greatness. He hoped Yugi would win though, it would be far more satisfying to wrench it from his grasp than that of some stranger.

To find him on his knees was just disappointing.

Was this the true strength of the King of Games?

Téa would be so disappointed. She believed in him wholeheartedly, to the point that if it came back down to Kaiba versus Yugi again, she would cheer them equally but would only believe in an outcome with Yugi’s victory. It burned him that he knew this was true. She was _his_ friend, and he was _better_ than that spikey headed brat.

But if he was honest with himself, something he didn’t particularly enjoy doing, he would say that if Téa were any other way he’d be disappointed. Her constant cheering and pep talks and _belief_ , that she wanted to be around him even though he was the complete opposite of that?

It was perhaps less of a harsh burn, and more of a gentle warmth.

So how dare Yugi kneel in front of this nobody? How dare he tarnish Téa’s belief in this way? It was that outrage that made him speak, give a pep talk of his own, force that loser to his feet.

He ignored the tiny voice that sounded suspiciously like Téa, gushing about how proud she was of him. Being _kind, supportive!_

In his own, Kaiba way, anyway.

“Aren’t you going to text Téa?” Mokuba asked.

“When it’s over,” Kaiba replied. “She’ll want to know the result, and if I don’t have it she’ll start asking for a description of every move,”

He meant to sound annoyed, instead it was just disgustingly fond.

Mokuba knew better than to point it out.

He was pleased though, ever since Téa had formed a place for herself next to his brother, Seto has begun to soften. It was almost like before Gozaburo, before the orphanage. He was smiling again and Mokuba loved it. He thought, quiet but sure, that he would do anything to protect his brother’s smiles. He would always be grateful to Téa for bringing them back.

Kaiba watched intently, the beginnings of strategy forming in his mind, all that was required was for Yugi to test it for him.

There.

Success.

Cards littered the ground, Kaiba firing one quick text before he descended onto the canal path. Yugi will not bear that card for long, not when he now knows exactly how to defeat it.

The mime was talking again. Whoever this Marik, was he had a lot of nerve threatening those he cared about. Mind control? How ridiculous but Yugi clearly believed it, denying his challenge to turn tail and run. It was all so preposterous. Nothing was going to happen.

He messaged Téa anyway, just in case.

She never got it.

~*~

Everything had been going so well too.

Joey had beaten Mako and now he qualified for the final! She couldn’t wait to see Kaiba’s face when he realised he was going to have to start taking Joey seriously. A little bit mean? Yes. But she deserved to be putting up with both of them together in the same space. Everything was fantastic, Tristan was bringing Serenity to meet them, and all that was left was for them to go find Yugi. Hopefully Kaiba would be sending a message any minute now.

Any time at all.

Okay so maybe she shouldn’t have pushed it and asked him to let her know, but he had a better chance at finding Yugi than her! And he had this awful habit of getting himself in dangerous situations, especially with everything Ishizu had shown them, so she would just feel a little bit better if there was someone there to look out for him.

Even if it was only so Kaiba could defeat Yugi himself.

They were surrounded to quickly, Téa still wasn’t clear on what happened.

They were outside the aquarium.

And then…someone grabbed her?

Her palm burns from where her bag strap was ripped away, and her back is bruised from where she hit the ground. She remembers Joey fighting, Grandpa Muto on the ground, she remembers struggling to stand when she was pushed down again.

And again.

Her head slammed against the ground and her vision started to blur.

It wasn’t until a bag had been pulled over her head, and she’d been hauled into a van that she lost consciousness. Just before it went black completely she heard the thump of another body hitting the van floor next to her, but whoever it was didn’t make a sound.

She faded in and out as they moved her. Her tongue felt thick and slow, her thoughts made of taffy. Voices were indistinct but some things were sharp as crystal.

The metal of the chair.

The brightness of the lights.

The scratchiness of the fabric on her face.

A hand, gripping tightly.

_No._

_No._

She’d been held at gunpoint before but it was nothing to the cold dread that accompanied that drifting grip.   

A harsh shout and a slamming door and she was left alone.

She reached up tentatively and removed the hood. She was in a storage room with one door and no sign of Joey.

She shoved the chair under the door knob.

Fuck.

Okay.

Don’t panic, Téa, don’t panic.

She crouched in the corner of the room, watching the space for shadows.

There were shadows.

She bolted to her feet, scanning the walls above her…there! A window!

She could use the boxes, stack them up high but she’d need a base to start from.

The chair.

She looked back at the door.

It was stupid, but with the chair blocking it she felt safe. If she moved it, they could come in at any time and hurt her again.

“Stop it Téa,” she muttered, hugging her arms to her chest. “You have to get yourself out of this, and you’re no use to anyone if you just give up!”

Her friends wouldn’t give up. They would have grabbed that chair and already be half way the freedom by now.

She moved the chair.

Her bruises had bruises. No matter what she tried, the boxes just wouldn’t hold her long enough for her to get a good enough grip on the window.

Now is not the time for Tears Téa!

It was too late though she was already crying. She knew she was in the hands of the Rare Hunters that Ishizu had warned them about, and Joey d told her about the strange voice and Yugi’s encounter with a mind controlled Keith. It sounded too fantastic to be true, for another person to steal someone’s will so completely, but after that had happened, after Pegasus and Ishizu and even Yugi’s puzzle she couldn’t help but believe it.

And she also believed, backed up by the cold feeling of dread creeping up her spine, that if she didn’t get out of here _immediately_ then something terrible was going to happen.

Sometimes she wished Yugi had never solved that puzzle.

And then she felt guilty, because he’d never been happier since he had.

Dark mystical powers threatening the world notwithstanding.

She stood and dusted off the back of her legs, ready to try again, when she heard movement behind the door. She backed away slowly, squaring her shoulders and tensing her legs. She was tough, she could take them.

She could hear someone talking, laughing, and a younger voice shouting. There was some scuffling and then the door finally opened.

“Mokuba!”

“Téa!”

“You kids have fun now,” the robed man laughed before leaving, locking the door firmly behind him. 

“Mokuba, what happened? Are you okay?” She started patting at his arms, checking for any hurts.

“Téa, I’m fine,” Mokuba protested. “But we gotta get out of here,”

“Yeah, Mokuba, we do,”

She stood, scanning her pile of boxes again.

“Okay, Mokuba. Here’s what we’re going to do.”

Slowly and carefully they built up the boxes, making sure that they were balanced right. Then she stood on the chair and lifted Mokuba as high as she could. His legs kicked as he got a grip, nearly catching her in the face but she held grimly on.

“Hurry Mokuba,” she said through gritted teeth. Her arms were starting to burn, but it looked like he was making good progress in opening the latch.

“I got it!”

She could hear noises in the corridor. She just hoped Mokuba couldn’t.

“Good, now get out. Get your brother and Yugi, you have to warn them something’s coming, okay?”

He stopped and looked down at her.

“But you’re coming too, right?”

“Of course, Mokuba,” she lied. “Just get through the window, now, okay?”

He nodded small face full of trust. “Okay, Téa,”

He was halfway through when the door busted open.

“They’re escaping!” someone behind her cried.

“Go Mokuba!”

“Téa!”

Someone lifted her bodily from the chair and she kicked out, desperately hoping to hit someone.

“Run!” she shouted, and was gratified to hear the window slam shut. The person holding her threw her on the ground and she rolled with the impact, only to be stopped with a kick to the stomach. She cried out with each hit, scrabbling against the floor to try and protect herself but every time she moved they adapted.

Protect her stomach, attack her back.

Try to stand, a shove to the shoulder.

She curled up in a ball, desperate to protect her head as blows rained down from above.

And then they stopped.

A hand reached down and pulled her up by her hair. The man had a foul sneer and fouler breath. His teeth were yellow with nicotine abuse, and his eyes were a watery pale blue. The looked right through her.

“So, this is the trouble maker,” he said. “Master Marik will break you,”

“Master Marik can go to hell,” Téa spat.

He slapped her and she tasted blood before the world went dark again.

~*~

Téa never replied to his text.

It was enough to cause a small kernel of worry, which compelled him to follow Yugi as he ran through the streets of Battle City.

It was the sight of Mokuba tied to helicopter that made him truly angry.

It was a strange sensation, being angry and worried for two people and not one. All he wanted was to defeat these two masked freaks and get to them as soon as possible. Instead he was weighed down with a partner he didn’t want, and who couldn’t go two seconds without preaching at him about team work or friendship.

Just make a move Yugi, and then we can end this.

If he was on his own this thing would be over already, and he would be halfway to Téa and Mokuba.

“Kaiba we must work together!”

“Whatever, Yugi, just stop getting in my way,”

“Kaiba!”

God why was Téa friends with this guy?

It didn’t matter, the duel was over, so why wasn’t Lumis telling them where they were already? Instead he was doing his Marik impression and issuing dire threats.

“Where are they?” he demanded.

“Ah, Seto Kaiba. Who knew taking little Téa would be so worthwhile?”

“Marik I’m warning you!”

“Warning me what, Pharaoh? I already have your precious friends, what good is a warning now?”

“Where are they?” Kaiba repeated. “I won’t ask again,”

“Oh, I’m sure you’ll figure it out,” Lumis chuckled, or was it Marik chuckling? “Now excuse me, I have to deal with this failure,”

It was like watching something out of a horror show, Kaiba thought. Lumis was crying and begging for forgiveness as each step he took led him closer to the edge. His arms wind milled at the edge, his fingers clawing at air, before he was finally tipped down into the shopping centre below.

He screamed the whole way.

“We’ll use my Duel Disk Tracking software to trace Wheeler,” Kaiba said. “They’ll be keeping them in the same place,”

“It didn’t work the last time,” Yugi said.

“Do you have another suggestion?” he bit out.

“No,”

Kaiba turned to leave the roof, and was nearly at the entrance when he heard the whirling sound of a helicopter, and underneath that Mokuba’s voice calling his name. He turned, hope an ugly thing in his chest, which morphed into relief at seeing his brother safe and whole.

“Mokuba! How did you escape?” he asked, holding his brother close.

“Téa helped me,” Mokuba said, tears in his eyes. “We’ve got to go save her, Seto!”

“We will, don’t worry,” Kaiba assured him. “Get in, Yugi, we’ll find them quicker by air.”

“They were holding us at the docks,”

“Then that’s where we’ll start.”

It’s where the search ended as well.  

He could only watch dumbfounded as Téa emerged from the ship, the same vile voice that came from Lumis now using Téa to speak. He thought maybe it was a trick, that she was being forced to mouth along with some recording, but there was no one here to force her. And Wheeler? That one was as loyal as a dog, him betraying his best friend made no logical sense.

None of this did. 

And then the duel was explained. This ridiculous farce of a duel where death was a sure outcome. He tried to stop it, this was insane, but then Téa sat in that chair. It was that, more than anything, that convinced him that there was some greater puppet master at work.

Forget Wheeler’s deck, his loyalty to Yugi and that voice, it was Téa willingly sitting that did it.  

She would never sit under a crate and allow her friends to duel to the death. She would slap them silly before she allowed such a thing to happen.

And then Marik released his control.

Her entire demeanour changed from relaxed to afraid in a second. He couldn’t look at her, couldn’t even speak. She’d put her life on the line for Mokuba and for him twice now and when she needed him there was nothing he could do. He could hear Mokuba explaining what was happening to her as though from a great distance.

“I’m glad you’re okay Mokuba! Kaiba! Please help those two! I’m okay, don’t worry about me, please! Don’t let them destroy each other!”

Like he cared about them!

The duel continued and so did Téa’s pleas for him to stop this. But he couldn’t.

Not yet.

He had to wait for the right moment, for Marik to be completely focused on Yugi before he could make his move.

Wait.

Wait.

_Now._

The helicopter did its job in destroying the crate, and the Rare Hunter was easy to deal with once the threat had passed. He watched as Mokuba pressed the buttons to free her, and as Téa quickly hugged him before turning to her friends.

“Come on guys! We’ve gotta help Joey and Yugi!” Tristan said.

“Right!” Téa said.

They moved off the pier but Kaiba grabbed Téa’s arm before she could follow. She winced at his touch.

“Téa?” he said quietly. “Are you okay?”

“Of course,” she smiled tremulously splitting open her lip again.

“They hurt you.”

“They can’t anymore,” she said firmly.

He examined her carefully, now he was close enough to see the bruises on her arms, the way she cradled her stomach carefully, the marks on her face.

He gently placed his hands on her shoulders and stroked down her arms, before pulling her close to him. Her arms snaked round his waist under his coat.

She was shaking.

Marik would pay for this.

~*~

It was strange for her to be so quiet.

Yugi, for all his innate goodness and naivety, was not a fool. He watched his oldest friend quietly withdraw into herself on the way to the finals. He watched her blanch when Marik walked into the half-built stadium. He saw her bruises and split lip, saw the slow way she moved, and for once he was at a loss of what do. Téa was a dancer, her movements were always quick, sure and elegant.  

The spirit of the puzzle tried to help but even he was at a loss. Shadow games, mystical powers and ancient feuds he could deal with but bruised flesh and bone was beyond him. It was strange really, to being so used to the violence of duel monsters, yet the marks on Téa stank of such wrongness.

The quiet was even worse.

She still cheered Joey and him on, still shone with bright belief, but half the words were missing; silenced by winces.

When Bakura fell and then Mai, she came back to herself a little. She focused on watching over them and badgering Kaiba into getting them medical care, though even she couldn’t get him to land. Yugi listened to Kaiba protest, say it wasn’t necessary, but it seemed to him that it was a performance.

**_I agree_** , whispered Yami.

_But why? Why not just say yes right away?_

**_Because, now Téa has something to fight about. Her eyes are brighter already_**.

_I hope it works_.

**_So do I._ **

~*~

The duelling had finished for now but Téa couldn’t sleep. She drifted through the blimp’s halls on her own, not wanting to wake anyone else. She envied them their rest but she couldn’t quite bring herself to join them.

She was afraid of what would happen if she did.

Ever since Marik had kidnapped her and Joey she had been losing time. She would begin in one place, blink, and be in another. No one had said anything about noticing anything strange either. Maybe she was sleepwalking? She’d never done it before but she thinks she read somewhere that stress can trigger it. And the last few days have been nothing but stressful.

It was that.

It had to be that.

She shivered in the empty hallway.

She followed it down slowly, drawn in by light through an open door. People were working this late? She only meant to peek her head in and walk away, curious about what they could be up to, but she was noticed.

“Téa? What are doing awake?” Kaiba asked.

“Just felt like a walk,”

“Can’t sleep?”

She sighed, moving further into the room. Mokuba was asleep on a chair, wrapped in Kaiba’s coat. It was cute.

“No,” she said finally. “I can’t shake the feeling that something bad is going to happen,”

“Hmph. That’s what you get for listening to all those fairy tales,” he smirked. Something about the way he said it irked her. After all this, _really_?

“Oh please, like you don’t believe in them even just a little?” she snapped. “I know Ishizu used her necklace to show you the past, she did the same to me and Yugi, and you experienced Pegasus’ power first hand!”

“Hypnosis, nothing more,”

“Alright then, fine. What about all the duel related injuries? These are holograms! There should be no tactile feel to them, and yet you can feel the heat, and the cold. Direct attacks physically _hurt_. Not to mention that Mai and Bakura are now in comas. Kaiba, you had a fully prepared medical team aboard, and you want to tell me you don’t believe that there’s something happening?”

He frowned and opened his mouth to reply.

“Seto? Téa? What’s wrong?” Mokuba interrupted sleepily.

“It’s nothing, Mokuba, go back to sleep,” he said instead.

Once Mokuba settled again, Kaiba looked up at Téa, still standing near the doorway.

“Do you want to stay?”

“Can I?”

She hated how small her voice sounded.

A chair rolled across the floor towards her. 

**Author's Note:**

> Cards Téa plays:  
> Beautiful Headhuntress  
> 
> 
> Light and Darkness Dragon  
> 
> 
> And I know its from GX, but I thought it was a nice card for her because she's now friends with both Yugi and Kaiba. 
> 
> I hope you enjoyed it, let me know what you think!
> 
> Much Hugs
> 
> Lizzie Hopscotch


End file.
